The Functional Path is a path that had been traveled many times before but had fallen out of use in favor of smoother paved roads that promised faster and easier results. Seeking to follow and better define the functional path is a continuing journey, fortunately it is a journey that many have traveled before. Functional Path training is getting back to the basics of movement. It is learning to tune into the body and it’s inherent wisdom to produce rhythmic flowing movement.

10/18/05

True Genius

I guess I am hung up on the issue of guruism and it effect on our field. I was struck by it again this weekend while I was teaching a seminar in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The pollution and bastardization of ideas is truly astounding. Why is everyone trying to make it so complicated? Here is an anecdote about the great scientist Richard Feynman, from the book Portraits of Discovery – Profiles in Scientific Genius. “One day a colleague of Feynman’s asked him a technical question. “I’ll prepare a freshman lecture on it,” Feynman replied. Several days later, however, he was forced to admit defeat. “I couldn’t do it,” he said. “I couldn’t reduce it to the freshman level. That means we don’t really understand it.” (P135) This is from a Nobel prize winner in Physics, one of the most intelligent men ever! Why can’t we reduce movement to the freshman level. Do not try to make it more complicated. Try to simplify. From the simplicity will come the complexity and the mystery. We must realize that the more we learn about movement and the body, the more we learn how underrated the body real is. It will do amazing, almost magical things if we let it.

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About Me

Vern is currently is the Director of Gambetta Sports Training Systems. He has been the a conditioning coach for several teams in Major League Soccer as well as the conditioning consultant to the US Men’s World Cup Soccer team. Vern is the former Director of Conditioning for the Chicago White Sox and Director of Athletic Development for the New York Mets. Vern is recognized internationally as an expert in training and conditioning for sport having worked with world class athletes and teams in a wide variety of sports. He is a popular speaker and writer on conditioning topics having lectured and conducted clinics in Canada, Japan, Australia and Europe. Vern's coaching experience spans 36 years at all levels of competition.
Vern has authored six books and over one hundred articles related to coaching and sport performance in a variety of sports. He received his BA from Fresno State University and his teaching credential with a coaching minor from University of California Santa Barbara. Vern obtained his MA in Education with an emphasis in physical education from Stanford University.